Send this to a friend

The Lake Austin Spa Resort is expanding with a new building, complete with pools, a dining room and gardens.

"It will be one of the nicest spa facilities in North America," says Michael McAdams, who co-owns the resort with Billy Rucks.

He declines to put a price tag on the 25,000-square-foot project.

Houston-based SpawGlass Contractors Inc. already is working on the project, which will replace existing tennis courts at the resort in Far Northwest Austin. When completed next March, the two-story center will provide a new dining area, a small meeting room and expanded treatment rooms for the Healing Waters Spa.

Healing Waters is the resort's day spa, which now occupies a small house that was on the property when McAdams and Rucks bought the land. At some point after the move, the house will be retrofitted as an additional guest accommodation.

McAdams says the new structure will serve overnight guests and day spa customers. Austin architects Robert Jackson & Associates designed the building in harmony with existing structures, and San Francisco design firm Babey Moulton Jue & Booth planned the interior.

"It will all be Texas Hill Country vernacular, Austin stone, cedar and metal. ... There will be several water features, fountains and extensive gardens," McAdams says. "It's going to drastically expand our capability."

The number of relaxation and treatment rooms will more than double from the nine to about 20. Men's and women's spa and sauna rooms will include outdoor privacy courts and trellised locker areas.

The building will contain a 25-meter, climate-controlled lap pool. Exterior construction includes a swimming pool and hot tub, fountains and waterfalls, an outdoor fireplace and grill, arbors, stone garden walls and serpentine walks.

"We've been planning this for the last six years," McAdams says. "It's taken this long to get the approvals and to design what we plan to be the ultimate spa facility."

McAdams means "ultimate" in a literal sense. The Lake Austin Spa Resort is already listed among the top 10 destination spas in the country by the Zagat U.S. Hotel, Resort and Spa Survey, and Departures magazine named the resort among its top 25 luxury resorts this year. In 2002, the resort ranked No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, in nationwide reader polls by Condé Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure magazines.

McAdams says his business has remained strong even as related industries such as hotels and travel have suffered.

"We have bucked the trend after 9-11. We've enjoyed a healthier business than the hospitality industry because we provide rest and relaxation and respite from a difficult world," he says.

The spa and resort industry in general has run counter to other luxury industries in recent years, says Greg Topalian, vice president of Norwalk, Conn.-based Reed Exhibitions Inc. The company hosted its second annual Spa & Resort Expo in New York City last month, drawing double the number of both vendors and attendees from the 2002 show.

Topalian says the spa and resort industry has grown by about 20 percent each year since 1997. He attributes that to a combination of the growing acceptance of massage, facials and other treatments for men, and to a desire for escapist experiences in difficult times.

"People are in such need of pampering and unwinding and getting away from some of the stresses of the world that a spa has become a wonderful answer, especially day spas," Topalian says.

"With travel being down, people may not be taking the extended trip to the Caribbean or wherever it might be, but they are taking the time to visit a local day spa to receive treatments."

SpawGlass team members for the project are Don Bulloch, project manager; Joey George, superintendent; and Jennifer Smith, project manager assistant.

Industries:

Comments

If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.